


If It Can't Be Eaten

by WhirlyBird70



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Background Zoro & Luffy, East Blue Five, Fluff, Gen, Mentions of Starvation, Sanji's issues with food and Nami helping that, Semi-researched facts, Set during the crews time in the East Blue, Tangerine Trees, but its small, gen - Freeform, ish, mentions of smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 18:32:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19156606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhirlyBird70/pseuds/WhirlyBird70
Summary: It starts when Nami walks into the Merry’s galley, and sees Sanji looking at the molding, unused food in the kitchen with a look that seems deeply troubled - no, more than that; it seems like the very thought of the slightest bit of food being wasted, being tossed aside, uneaten, is like a dagger in the heart.OrNami teaches Sanji some ways to not waste food while on a ship like theirs.





	If It Can't Be Eaten

It starts when Nami walks into the Merry’s galley, and sees Sanji looking at the molding, unused food in the kitchen with a look that seems deeply troubled - no, more than that; it seems like the very thought of the slightest bit of food being wasted, being tossed aside, uneaten, is like a dagger in the heart.

(Nami does not forget the hint of desperation in his eyes when Sanji made the first meal for them all and declared, with a leg raised threateningly, that no food would ever go to waste on the ship.

A rare possibility, but even with their captain’s appetite, there are no fool proof plans to preserve uneaten foods in the harsh environments of the seas)

He doesn’t even notice when she walks up beside him, a surprising feat given his usual adoring nature when around her, and only starts when she taps his shoulder.

“Sanji?” 

“Ah!” He jumps, head perking up and eyes immediately dancing with lust (and still, respect. He, despite his mannerisms, has always backed off when Nami asked him too, or before he had crossed a line. Not that she asked him to back off a lot – no, she liked the attention thank you very much.) “Nami-swan! Would you like a snack? I’m so sorry you had to bother to take time out of your day to fetch your own food! A beautiful princess like you should never have to do that!” 

Nami laughs, and waves him off. “No Sanji, I’m good. Just needed to stretch my legs that’s all. What are you doing now?”

It is startling, the way his mood turns somber, the way his shoulders slouch and his one showing eye darkens with sadness. It is not a look she likes on their proud, kind cook and she wants to find out what caused it.

(She had only known the others for a week before Arlong Park, and Sanji even less so. Still, in the few weeks after and all the adventures they had, her love for them all has grown immensely – almost terrifyingly. She knows each of them and cares for them – a somewhat foreign concept still but one she is without a doubt, willing to accept.

Which is why any sadness among her crew, if she can stop it, will _not_ be tolerated.)

“Ah, just… looking at what food can’t be saved and what needs to be thrown out.” The ache in his voice _hurts_ her – and more, she recognizes it from just hearing her own voice in the past. Food to him must be like money to her, Nami realizes. Something important, something needed, something that should never, _ever_ , go to waste.

“Rotten food can’t be eaten after all. It’s my fault for not noticing it was there – normally I use every part of whatever we are eating in our dishes. Sorry Nami-swan.”

 _God,_ the _guilt_. Nami knows Sanji – knows that his food is delicious and knows that the quiet look of pride that lights up his face when the entire table is cleared of any morsel of food is something to be treasured. Knows that he puts effort into every meal he gives the crew (though only his stellar service is for her. Even so – there are always identical snacks waiting in the kitchen for the boys), and knows that smoking is something people sometimes pick up after severe starvation.

She won’t stand for this – this _sorrow_. 

So, she pushes herself off the counter where she had been leaning and smiles at the cook. “Rotten food can’t be eaten, but it can still be used.” She can  _fix_ this.

His look of confusion is adorable though.

“Gather up what can’t be eaten and follow me.” She orders. Sanji, as always, hastens to do what she says, even if his movements still have that _horrible_ melancholy lilt to them.

Once he has everything gathered up into bags, she leads him to the top of the Merry, where her tangerine trees are. Along the way they pass Zoro and Luffy, dozing together (cuddling, really, Nami wants to know how long they knew each other before she came along) in the midday sun, and Usopp, fiddling with some new gadget or other, who waves at them as they pass.

It’s a peaceful sort of day, and the waves are calm which means she has plenty of time to show their cook the _wonders_ of composting.

“Uh, Nami dearest, what are we doing up here?” Sanji asks her, setting the bags down as she stops. She only smiles at him, and gestures him further along, to the fenced box of soil she keeps shrouded beneath her trees.  

“This, Sanji,” she starts, taking the bags from him, “is a compost pile from my home that I had put on the ship with my Tangerine Trees. It’s purpose is to create nutrient rich organic material that helps the soil in the tangerine trees – which we can then use for food.” Nami opens the bags and grabs her gloves and shovel, ready to get to work. “And you know what we put into the soil?”

With the way his eyes are brightening and his smile is growing wide, she thinks he does. But still, her boys in particular can be idiots so better safe than sorry. 

“Any food that we can’t eat.” Nami smiles as she slowly upends the rotten food into the compost pile. “So that no food ever has to go to waste.” Normally she takes organic material from the towns and islands they visit – but this is a _much_ better alternative. 

(And – while she doesn’t know what makes Sanji so particular about food now, (No – that comes later, as the two of them sit late at night with midnight snacks (Kitchen locked for fear of their hungry captain) and talk about harsh childhoods that didn’t always have enough food or money for lost little children) but she knows that he does care about wasting food – that if they do, he smokes long and hard outside as if his own meal was not enough to calm the force of starving memories within him, as if every bite was stolen from the mouths of the very people his job it was to feed)

The smile and look of awe he gives her as he realizes that now he will never have to waste food is all the thanks she needs. As the hour passes, she shows him how to compost, how to turn the soil, what few foods couldn’t be used, and how to tell if it was ready to be used on her beloved trees.

As the food is slowly placed into the pile, she can see the sadness dripping off his shoulders, the hurt disappearing from his heart.

(The thought that she did this, is an inspiring one.)

When she gives him a tangerine at the end, he looks as if he had received a gold bar, and promptly sings praises of her name, fully back to his worshipping self.

She is proud her cook is back.

-

Months later, when the Merry is gone yet still living in their hearts, and the Sunny’s warm Adam’s wood are the planks beneath their feet instead, Sanji and Nami start another compost pile. It becomes a tradition to work quietly in the garden after supper and before the sun sets on the last day of the week (if they are not dragged on another dangerous adventure by their beloved captain, that is), slowly turning what would be waste into life for trees and Robin’s Flowers and Usopp’s Pop Greens.

It’s a nice change, and in the quiet hours that they do this, Nami can’t help but be thankful for their wondrously kind cook and his dream to make sure none of them ever have to starve.

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: 6/16/20 - fixed formatting! 
> 
> Hey Everyone! I hoped you like this piece - it's been a head canon of mine for awhile. Despite Luffy's appetite and Sanji's skill at not wasting food, (See the anime arc Navarone/G-8 Marine Base - it's a really funny arc with some great moments, displaying some of the traits that the characters have excellently, even if its not that plot relevant) some food has to go to waste. And, to my knowledge, Tangerine Trees out on sea, or any plant at sea, might need a bit extra help - so, composting! Nami's trees get helped, and Sanji can rest easy knowing that the food he doesn't use will still help feed his nakama (I believe that's the term) and their dreams!
> 
> Note: Composting, while something I'm familiar with, is something I'm not an expert on. But it is a great way to help the environment - check out websites for more information (and punch holes that this theory can be used on the Sunny/Merry lol - just chalk it up to One Piece Madness?)
> 
> Anyway - if you have any corrections/suggestions, please tell me them! I am always learning as I write, and any help is welcome!
> 
> I am also on Tumblr now! Catch me at [whirlybirdwrites](https://whirlybirdwrites.tumblr.com) ! 
> 
> This story is also [Here!](https://whirlybirdwrites.tumblr.com/post/185483539261/if-it-cant-be-eaten)
> 
> Thats it! Thank you for reading!
> 
> -Whirly


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